A fatal blow
by buminit86
Summary: An alternate take on the Truth Takes Time in which things don't go too well for Vaughn
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Alias is not mine  
  
This fic begins in Truth Takes Time, when Sark is about to shoot Vaughn. This is just my take on what could have happened in an alternate universe. I might add a couple of humorous lines of dialogue but this is supposed to be a serious story.  
  
Sark saw the fear flash through Agent Vaughn's eyes as he lay on the floor, with no gun, no help, and no chance. Sark aimed the gun at his chest, and fired.  
  
Vaughn fell to his chest and clenched his teeth. He felt as if someone had just hit him in the chest with a sledgehammer.  
  
Thank God for the vest - I can't believe I thought twice about putting it on. But then again, my momma didn't raise no fool.  
  
"Get up, Agent Vaughn," Sark's voice echoed through the empty stairwell. "My employer and I would like to ask you a few questions, that is of course if you don't have any plans with Miss Bristow."  
  
Vaughn glared at Sark and tried to think of every possible way to knock that cocky grin off of his face.  
  
"Go to hell, you son of a bitch."  
  
Sark smirked and once again cocked his gun.  
  
"I'm sorry, that is not the right answer."  
  
Then there was darkness.  
  
"What do you mean you lost him?!!" Sydney shouted into her Comm link. "He was supposed to meet me in the lobby of the building after he searched the second floor!"  
  
"I know, the other agent that was with him recalls seeing Sark enter the second floor stairwell before being knocked out. We believe that Sark and your mother may have taken him hostage, or worse."  
  
Sydney felt the tears fill her eyes. She had no clue what her mother and Sark would want with Vaughn - or what they would do with him. "Dad, what are we going to do? Would we be able to track him?" Her voice was beginning to shake as her sense of panic rose.  
  
"Sark must have taken his Comm link because we lost his signal. Now that your mother's signal is no longer active, there is no way that we can track him. Sydney, I'm sorry but there's nothing that we can do."  
  
But Sydney wasn't listening, she was already in a crumpled heap on the floor - sobbing. 


	2. A day at the spa

Chapter Two ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Vaughn knew he was in deep trouble even before he returned to consciousness. He could feel the cold steel handcuffs binding his wrists behind him and the metal chains that secured his ankles to the straight back metal chair he had been sitting in for at least a day now. He tried to look around to get a sense of his surroundings but failed as the throbbing in the back of his neck took over, Sark hit him harder than he thought.  
  
He had lost all sense of time in the windowless room in what appeared to be a warehouse. He could tell by the guards that he was somewhere in Germany and so far he had not seen Sark, Irina, or Sloane. Not that he had actually thought much about them; all he could think about was Sydney. Did Sark get to her too? Will she look for me? Will she go with the search team? Will there even be a search team?? He remembered Kendall's reluctance to help Syd when she was held captive in Khandahar just a few weeks ago and he had no idea how the CIA would be able to find him or even if they would try to find him at all.  
  
The sound of the door opening pulled Vaughn away from his thoughts as he watched a silhouette of a man walk into the room. He blinked to try to clear his eyes and looked up to see Sark.  
  
"Ah Agent Vaughn, so good to see you awake. A stronger man would not have blacked out for as long as you did, but then again."  
  
Vaughn focused on a spot on the floor, for he knew if he looked up he would not be able to stop himself from spitting in Sark's face which would not be good for himself. "I'm surprised that a strong man such as yourself is quite often given a good ass-kicking by a woman," Vaughn retorted.  
  
Sark pretended not to hear this last comment, "As I said before, my employer and I would like to ask you a few questions. I would caution you from answering untruthfully as I do have information as to the locations of your family and your girlfriend, Miss Bristow and I would love to pay them a visit."  
  
"I'm sure they would love to kick you around a bit, Sark. And who, may I ask, is your employer?" I will not let him get to me. I have to stay strong for Sydney.  
  
"Oh you'll find out in good time, don't worry. But for now, we are going to take a trip to what I like to call, 'the spa room.'"  
  
Two armed guards entered the room and one unchained Vaughn from the chair as the other held him at gunpoint. Vaughn stood up, grateful to stretch his legs at least a little bit, and followed Sark out of the room. He felt a gun pressed into the small of his back, pushing him down the corridor. He was led through a series of dark, damp, corridors of what appeared to be an underground complex. Sark eventually came to a halt in front of a not- so-friendly looking room.  
  
"Time for a trip to the spa. I couldn't perhaps interest you in facial?" Sark opened the heavy metal door and one of the guards pushed Vaughn inside. The other uncuffed his hands and feet. A third guard appeared pushing a long metal tub filled with water that was on wheels.  
  
The guards all approached Vaughn from all sides and quickly overtook him and forced him into the tub.  
  
"Time for a bath, Agent Vaughn."  
  
The water was freezing. Vaughn gasped as he felt the icy cold liquid cover his body, leaving him struggling for breath. A bucket full of ice was then emptied into the tub and Vaughn moaned in pain. He was losing the feeling in his hands and feet, which were already severely bruised. The water stung his face and neck and he could not remember a time when he had been in more pain.  
  
Sark took a seat beside the tub and began placing electrodes on Vaughn's chest. He then hooked the wires up to a machine place next to him.  
  
"Now, Agent Vaughn, I have received information which reveals that you have been investigating Irina Derevko for the past four months. During your investigation, you located a contact of hers, Mau o Pessoa. I need to know his current location and what he told you about Irina Derevko. If you tell me now, I may consider letting you go."  
  
"What do you need this intel for?" Vaughn was not about to just tell Sark what he wanted to hear.  
  
"It is not necessary for you to know my motives, Agent Vaughn."  
  
"Then it is not necessary for me to tell you anything, Mr. Sark."  
  
And with that, Sark flipped the switch on the machine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- I guess I'll leave you with a cliffhanger - can't write anymore. **feedback makes me feel all good inside** 


	3. An unpleasant phone call

Chapter 3  
  
Thank you so much to the people who sent me reviews! It really motivates me to write more often. (  
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Sydney furiously paced back and forth across the floor of the Ops Center.  
  
"How could they not send a search team?! Vaughn is one of their best agents; I can't just leave him to die by Sark!!"  
  
Jack Bristow sat watching his daughter and said nothing.  
  
"Fine, if no one is willing to help me, I'll go look for him myself. I'll see you when I get back - with Vaughn."  
  
She continued to pace as she collected her thoughts and mentally prepared herself to face her mother. Then, she turned to her father angrily, "Well, aren't you going to say anything?!!"  
  
"Sydney, I think that you might be making a mistake. I know that you aren't exactly biased when it comes to Agent Vaughn and you are acting out of emotion. Let yourself calm down and clear your head before you go on some wild goose chase to catch Sark. Besides, Kendall won't give you permission to look for him. We can't spare a single agent right now."  
  
Sydney stared at her father, shocked. 'How can he be so unsupportive? Before he said that we needed Vaughn. He knows how I feel about him, how could he just tell me to do nothing? Then again, we are talking about Jack Bristow.'  
  
His indifference about her feelings hurt her. She thought he was beginning to understand her, and that they were beginning to bond as a caring father and loving daughter. Now, he was treating her like some low level agent who he didn't care about at all. She felt hot tears reach her eyes and tried to blink them away. She wouldn't let her father see her cry.  
  
"Dad, I know what I'm doing. You may not care what happens to Vaughn, but I do. So if you will excuse me, I need to go find my handler."  
  
She turned on her heel and quickly walked away leaving her father to look on after her, knowing that he just screwed things up again. ************************************************************************ Vaughn gasped for air as Sark turned off the machine. This torture was almost unbearable. When Sark had flipped the switch the first time, an electric current swept through the water, electrocuting Vaughn in the process. The first few shocks had been mild, but as Vaughn repeatedly refused to give Sark information, the shocks grew increasingly more powerful - and painful. Vaughn felt as if every part of his body was on fire. He felt like his organs were burning and the icy cold water in the tub did nothing to soothe his pain. He could barely breathe and the world around him was starting to turn to black as he slipped into unconsciousness.  
  
'I can't let Sark think I'm weak. Come on Vaughn, get a grip, suck it up, you can get through this.' Vaughn clenched his teeth, preparing for the next shock.  
  
"Agent Vaughn, I think that will be all for today. Why don't you go back to your room and think things over and we can talk later. I'll send Sydney your love."  
  
Sark signaled for the guards to carry Vaughn back to his cell and he wondered what Sark meant by his last remark.  
  
************************************************************************ Sydney sat alone on her living room couch, with her head in her hands. Her father was right, she was acting foolishly. She didn't have the slightest clue as to where to start looking for Vaughn. If her mother was here, she could ask her, but...her mother had betrayed her, again.  
  
"Oh God," she sobbed. "What the hell am I doing? Vaughn could be anywhere now, oh God, oh God, what am I doing?" She rocked herself back and forth as she cried.  
  
The cheery ringing of her CIA cell phone disturbed her thoughts and she groaned as she fumbled through her purse to get it.  
  
"What," she said a little too harshly. Wait a minute, only Vaughn had this number.  
  
"Miss Bristow, I'm glad I caught you while you're in a good mood. We need to discuss a few things," Sydney gaped at hearing Sark's voice. "As I am sure you are aware, Agent Vaughn is currently in my care and will continue to remain so until he begins to cooperate with my simple requests."  
  
"What do you want with him?" Sydney asked softly as tears again reached her eyes.  
  
"Oh not much, just some information regarding a contact of my employer's." Sark made the conversation seem so petty, as if he were talking about the weather.  
  
"You mean my mother?" Sydney could feel her anger begin to rise as he mentioned the woman who had destroyed and betrayed so many people.  
  
"Yes you are correct. She is actually quite eager to see you again, Miss Bristow. That is the reason for my call. If Agent Vaughn agrees to cooperate with us, we can set up a meet where we will release Agent Vaughn back into CIA custody. We will meet in Rio de Janero in two days at 22 hundred hours. You must come alone. There, we will either release Agent Vaughn or give you his dead body depending on how well he cooperates. There is one condition however, you must give us all the Rambaldi documents in the CIA's possession. Then and only then, will we let Agent Vaughn go."  
  
Sydney tried to take in everything he just told her. She hoped that Vaughn would just tell Sark what he wanted to know. She couldn't bear to lose him too.  
  
"Alright, deal. See you then." Sydney turned off her phone. Suddenly, a thought came to her. She jumped up, grabbed her coat, and drove as fast as she could to the Ops center. If this worked, she thought, she would be seeing Sark a lot sooner.  
TBC.  
  
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I hope this chapter wasn't too bad, I wasn't really paying attention while I was writing it.. Thanks again to those of you who reviewed, I REALLY appreciate it!! 


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